Keke Palmer is set to star in and executive produce The Burbs, a contemporary series adaptation of the 1989 movie of the same name starring Tom Hanks and Carrie Fisher. Peacock has given the project a straight-to-series order. Celeste Hughey (Dead to Me) will write and executive produce it.
“Set in present-day suburbia, The ‘Burbs follows a young couple — with Palmer playing the wife — returning to the husband’s childhood home,” reads the description. “Their world is upended when new neighbors move in next door, bringing old secrets of the cul-de-sac to light, and new deadly threats shatter the illusion of their quiet little neighborhood.” The series will be filmed in the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood, which is the same location as the original movie. Seth MacFarlane is onboard as an executive producer alongside Eric Huggins and Aimee Carlson for Fuzzy Door. Briar Grazer, Kristen Zolner, and Natalie Berkus will also executive produce for Imagine Entertainment, which produced the original movie.
The original film was directed by Joe Dante and featured such a fun cast. In addition to Hanks and Fisher, the film also featured Bruce Dern, Corey Feldman, Rick Ducommun, Wendy Schaal, Rance Howard, Gale Gordon, Henry Gibson, Courtney Gains, Robert Picaardo, and more. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Joe Dante film without an appearance from the late, great Dick Miller.
Keke Palmer will next be seen in Good Fortune, an upcoming comedy which will serve as Aziz Ansari’s featured directorial debut. In addition to directing, Ansari also stars as a down-on-his-luck man who works for a rich asshole (Seth Rogen). He’s visited by an angel (Keanu Reeves), who swaps the lives of the two men, hoping it will make Ansari’s character realize that wealth won’t solve his problems. But the plan backfires, and he refuses to go back to his old life as, wouldn’t you know it, money really does solve a lot of problems.
Although Good Fortune will be Ansari’s first movie as director, it wasn’t meant to be. He was in the midst of production on Being Mortal when a sexual assault allegation against star Bill Murray forced production to shut down, and it never resumed.